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| 3 Oct 2025 | |
| From the Archives |
Keats lodged in Winchester for nearly two months between August and October 1819 and after a particular walk on 19 September, he was inspired to write the poem To Autumn. Of that day, he wrote to a friend 'How beautiful the season is now – How fine the air. A temperate sharpness to it […] this struck me so much in my Sunday’s walk that I composed upon it'.
Less well known than the poem are the details of Keats's stay in Winchester. It is thought that he lodged on the north side of the Cathedral and took daily walks through our water meadows.
The Fellows' Library holds a first edition of the poem, published in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St.Agnes and Other Poems (1820). This was Keats’ third and final volume of poetry, containing some of his greatest works including To Autumn and his six famous odes.
Winchester College’s collections contain numerous items that illustrate the city as it was during Keats’s visit. Among these is a series of watercolour views by local artist George Sidney Shepherd (1784–1862), including a view (image AW618), which depicts a view of the College from The Warden’s Garden, giving visual context for the scenes described by Keats.
